Sensor Cleaning help needed

My Canon 5DmkII is a year old now and I am starting to see a heavy increase dust spots, the auto clean function does not seem to do much good these days. I want to clean the sensor myself and was wondering what method people are using these days, what products etc I have tried using my Giotto Rocket blower but that does not seem to do any good.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jody

Jody--i have to check if its good for the MkII, but i used Eclipse II for my 5D and that was the only thing that worked (real well, too), i used rocket blowers and lens pens to no avail before i started using a wet method. It only requires an occasional cleaning (being pretty careful) and it removes everything. Ill check the site to make sure it works on MkII cause mine is only a couple months old and i already have a spot or two that the auto cleanser doesnt work on.
EDIT: good thing you asked--since they appaerently discontinued E2 (photosol.com) now they only make the original Eclipse. I guess im stuck using my old bottle of E2 Anyhow--id say use the Eclipse its the only reliable method.

The blowers are a good place to start, but once you get fused on gunk, I found Eclipse swabs on PecPads (or equivalent) are the way to go.

I don't have a self cleaning sensor, so I don't know if there are issues with wet swabs
I'm not aware of any problems, but I would certainly confirm that first.

I like the Giottos Rocket Air blower and the Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly series for removing dust, and the Dust Aid system for wet cleaning to remoce stuck on gunk.

I also got the Rocket Air blower and the Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly and together seem to work fine for dust. The butterfly seemed to really do the trick. I haven't tried (or needed to) try wet cleaning yet, but did buy the swabs and sensor cleaner just in case.

Jody,
This is a good article on the topic: http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

I just got the Dust Aid Platinum system and am very please with it. It's easy, fast and effective. I've used it on a first generation 5D.

MAKE SURE YOU USE THE CORRECT ECLIPSE PRODUCT. The 5D and MK2 use iron-oxide bayer filters and are different from many other Canon cameras.

I do think my Giottos Rocket Air blower added more dust to the sensor after using than taking dust off.

Hold the camera upside down when blowing out the sensor chamber. And never do it outside.

When I got my 5D2, it had some gunk on it. I tried the Rocket blower to no avail. Then I tried the Arctic Butterfly which moved the gunk around. I then used the wet method, the new liquid that Visible Dust make. It took the gunk off. Since then, I have managed to get all the dust off with the Rocket blower or the Arctic Butterfly. I have found that Nat is correct in that you do have to hold the camera upside down. Otherwise, the dust just gets blown around.

I have also found that a preventative measure is to change lenses with the camera upside down as well. Also, if you are in the field, as I usually am when I need to change lenses, keep the lens opening pointed down and shield the camera from the wind by facing downwind.

And when changing lenses in the field, always turn your camera's power off first. When the camera is on, the sensor has a slight electromagnetic charge that attracts dust.

Turning off your camera before changing lenses can dramatically reduce the amount of dust that finds its way onto the sensor.

I mount the camera on a fully extended tripod with the front (lens mount) side pointed down. I then use a Rocket Blower to remove dust from the mirror before starting the cleaning process. After that, I lock up the mirror and use the blower again to remove the loose stuff. I then use Dust-Aid wands which remove 90% of the gunk. The welded on stuff is tougher and in my experience only wet cleaning works. I use the Dust-Aid Wand Kit for this.

When this fails, I drop off my camera at Pictureline in SLC and when I get it back I'm $50 poorer and the sensor doesn't have a single speck of dust on it.

I use Visible Dust products for dry and wet cleaning, the Artic Butterfly for dry, and one of 3 liquids for wet cleaning. I emailed Visible Dust before wet cleaning my Mkii, and they said their products were perfectly safe on the Mkii. Visible Dust products are Methanol free, I'm not sure about the other cleaning solutions.

I have used PecPads and Eclipse solution for years (well, since I got my first 10D, anyways), and that works like a charm for stuff that doesn't come off with a blower...

I take a pair of needle nose pliers and pull until it breaks free, once out of the camera I put it in the dishwasher and run on extra power cycle...works every time!!